Kajakai Dam
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The Kajakai Dam is one of the two major hydroelectric power dams of Helmand province in northern central Afghanistan. It is located 55 miles (90 km) north-west of Kandahar. It has a dual function to provide electricity and serves to irrigate some 650,000 acres (1800 km²) of formerly arid land. Water discharging from Kajakai traverses some 300 miles (500 km) of downstream irrigation canals feeding farmland. The Kajakai Dam is on the Helmand River,and was completed in 1953. This dam is 320 feet (100 m) high and 887 feet (270 m) long, with a storage capacity of 973,000 acre-feet (1.2 km³) of water.
In 1975, USAID commissioned the initial installation of two 16.5 MW generating units in a powerhouse constructed at the toe of the dam. This first stage powerhouse was actually constructed to house three equally sized units.
With help from USAID, presently Unit 1 has been fully rehabilitated and currently produces 16.5 MW of reliable power. The Unit 3 rehabilitation will begin will disassembly in May 2006, with a scheduled return to service in early 2007. The new 18.5 MW Unit 2 turbine/generator has been contracted to China Machine Building International Corporation headquartered in Beijing. Engineering, design and procurement are ongoing. The work will be supervised by Montgomery Watson Harza and is planned to begin in September 2006 and be completed by June 2007. Central to the long-term energy security and sustained economic growth of South Eastern Afghanistan is the rehabilitation and expansion of the Kajakai HPP. As a critical component of the South East Transmission System, the capacity of the Kajakai HPP will be expanded to 51 MW with a future potential for an additional 100 MW.
Under on an accord signed between Iran and Afghanistan in 1972, Afghanistan is obliged to release at least 910 cubic feet (26 m³) of water a second. Taliban violated the deal during the 1994-2001 Taliban rule in Afghanistan and blocked the water from flowing into Iran.
As a result, Iran's famous Hamoun lake dried up as did other regional pastures, leading to the death of flora and fauna and the perish of cattle and birds in the Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran.[1]
The Kajakai dam powerhouse was a bombing target by the US Airforce during their attack on Afghanistan in October 2001.[2]
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